Piano Notes For Beginners

As a beginner to the piano it’s hard to imagine that you will eventually be able to play almost all of the songs written in songbooks fluently. You may even be able to compose your own music. When starting out you will need some guidance on learning everything and this short tutorial will help you with piano notes for beginners.

So, here are a few tips to help to learn the notes and then a brief instruction on how to start with your fingering techniques.

Piano Notes For Beginners – Lesson # 1

When looking at the piano notes, you will see 88 keys split up into sections of 12 notes (white and black keys included). The notes are named after the first seven letters of the alphabet, namely A, B, C, D, E, F and G. The first white note to remember, because it’s the best point of reference is the C-note. The C-note is always the key that is just before the sequence of two black keys, while the F-note is just in front of the three black keys. From the first C-note, counting all the white notes to the next C-note is called an Octave because there are 8 of them.

Piano Notes For Beginners – Lesson # 2

When looking at piano notes for beginners, you need to know the black notes represent what is known as sharps and flats. Depending which side you’re going to start when looking at a white key. A (#) that symbolizes a sharp is the black key to the right of a white key, while a (b) is known as the flat and is immediately to the left. Looking at the image below, it’s pretty easy to see how this works out.

From the diagram you can easily conclude that a Db is also a C#. No need to overly fuss about it, but it’s important to learn this for when you get to learn to read music.

Piano Notes For Beginners – Lesson # 3

Looking at the piano keyboard, find the C key right that is closest to the middle and you have found what is known as middle C. Middle C is usually treated as the “split” where the right and left hand parts are separated, especially for beginners. What this means is that those keys above middle C is for the right hand to play, while those to the left are for the left hand.

Ok, now you should know about the piano notes, so you need to memorize and familiarize yourself with them so you can now position your fingers properly.

Fingering is pretty simple. All you need to do is to place your fingers, starting with your right hand thumb on middle C. Look at your keyboard and find middle C, then put the remaining fingers on the next 4 white keys, which will be D,E,F and G. Remember, the major keys are the white keys.

To recap on your fingering – you’ll notice that fingering on music is numbered from 1 – 5. This will enable you to understand the best way to play certain music pieces and where to put your fingers. Numbered from the thumb, 1 is equivalent to the thumb, 2 is your index finger, 3 is for the middle finger, 4 is the ring finger and 5 is the pinkie.

When you have placed your hands with your thumb on middle C, with your thumb side on to the note and your other fingers bent over so you play the note with your fingertip, run your fingers up and down through each note, making sure that every key corresponds with a different finger. Try this slowly at first and then gradually move up to a faster pace making sure you get a smooth progression.

I hope this short tutorial on piano notes for beginners has been helpful and you can get to grips with the notes and then work towards playing your first tune very quickly. Enjoy.